Consumers put ‘green’ second

While there are many carpet products that have a great green story, it’s the rare consumer who is looking for environmental features and the ones who are willing to pay more for such products are even scarcer.

Mohawk’s research concluded that, in terms of environmentally safe, sustainable products, consumers are more concerned about what goes in, on or exists around their bodies — food, makeup, clothing — than products in the home, according to Seth Arnold, residential brand director for Mohawk Industries.

“Concerns about carpet and VOCs come up and that’s why we stress having CRI’s Green Label Plus certification for our carpets. It’s also why we explain that SmartStrand does not require any topically applied stain and soil resist treatments,” he said. “If the consumer doesn’t care about sustainability but does care about ease of cleaning, we stress cleanability. We have very focused marketing, as seen with the promotions around the rhino and the elephant that demonstrated SmartStrand’s durability and cleanability. Once we have the consumer’s attention, we make sure they understand that SmartStrand with DuPont Sorona is a sustainable product made with a bio-based element,” Arnold said. “There are some people looking for sustainable products made from recycled PET (polyester) bottles and we have that too. Through Mohawk Continuum we are making a cleaner, longer-lasting PET that still provides value,” Arnold stated.

Shaw also offers carpet products with green features but, “The residential customer is not as focused on environmental concerns and is often not willing to pay a premium for a product with a green pedigree. Shaw tries to build environmental attributes into the products without raising the price,” David Wilkerson, Shaw’s corporate director of sustainability and product stewardship, explained.

The best way to raise the residential carpet consumer’s awareness of environmental issues is through education. “Cradle to Cradle is the best vehicle to communicate with the consumer,” Wilkerson said.

Beaulieu America manufactures spun PET carpet where the face fiber is 100 percent recycled PET and includes a portion of recycled PET in its BCF (bulked continuous filament) PET. “We found that there was not much perceived value in that for residential consumers,” said Ralph Boe, co-CEO of Beaulieu. “We are still making the products, but the green aspect is not part of our marketing approach.”